Arrogant Insecurity
by Jessie4
Summary: *Taito taking place far into their 20's* When Sora demands to be let back into Taichi's life, how many people will be hurt?


"Arrogant Insecurity"   
A Digific by Jessie   
  
     "The phone's ringing." Taichi announced sleepily from his spot on an ever-so-comfortable couch.
     "Then answer it." Yamato's soothing baritone floated from the kitchen.
     "I don't wanna get up."
     "Stop being such a baby and pick it up." A familiar twinge of annoyance settled into the blonde's voice as dishes clattered in punctuation.
     "Really, you won't like it if I have to get up."
     "You're right next to it! Would it kill you to answer the phone?!" A pan crashed violently.
     "Yes. It might just do that."
     "…………………" Yamato's voice was deadpan. "… You're a complete idiot, you know that?"
     "Yup." Taichi sounded altogether too proud in his agreement. "Plus, it's still ringing."
     "For goodness sake, just ANSWER the frikking phone!"
     "Don't wanna."
     An exasperated growl resounded through the small studio apartment the couple shared as Yamato stormed out of the kitchen, pink apron soiled with the evening's cuisine. His footsteps thundered towards the phone, a mere foot out of what would have been Taichi's reach. He glared at his beloved and lifted the phone from its hook. Taichi grinned idiotically from beneath his mass of unruly hair.
     "Ishidagami."
     "That's SUPPOSED to be 'Yagashida!'"
     "Shut UP, I'm on the phone!" Yamato again glared, adding under his breath, "lazy good for nothing…"
     The voice on the other end of the phone seemed slightly perplexed. "Anouuu… Yamato…?"
     Yamato blanched. "S---s--?!"
     Taichi's eyes widened as he snatched the receiver away from the still breathless blonde.
     "So-chan…?"
     The woman on the line let out a small gasp. "T..ta-chan… Didn't know He was there…"
     "He lives here now. You know that."
     Sora's voice held more than a twinge of… disappointment? Regret? "Y..yeah… I guess I just… Ummm… Forgot…"
     "Not important." Taichi's brow furrowed as his tone became brisk. "What was it you wanted?"
     "I… I just need to see you, okay? At the old Heightonview place?"
     Taichi's silence spoke volumes.
     "Please?"
     "…… I'm bringing Yamato." The blonde's eyes perked up curiously at the sound of his name.
     A nearly audible wince. "If you insist…"
     "I do."
     "It doesn't matter. Heightonview Terrace. As soon as you can…."
     "……"
     "…And Tai?"
     "What?"
     There was a long pause.
     "Sora..?"
     "Just…. Hurry, okay?"
     Complete silence greeted her as Taichi gently placed the phone back upon its hook. His eyes turned back to Yamato.
     "Stuff like that…" He noted, "… is why I don't like to answer the phone."
     ```````````````````````````````
     Sora stared off the balcony of what was once the Takenouchi residence. How fitting, she thought, that she should return to the very place she first lay eyes on –him-. Her hand tightly gripped the tag and crest she wore around her neck even today.
     "Biyomon…" She sighed, "If you were here, you'd know how to handle this…"
     She paused to ponder how things had gotten so far… How had she managed to not only lose the heart of the one she loved, but send him into the arms of a –man-…?
     "Just a childhood flirtation," was what he told her. "But we'll always be buds…. Right?" Sora just nodded back then, but now the pain flushed over her anew like a tidal wave. What did that prettyboy have that she didn't? What right did he have to steal her place? HE symbolized friendship, while SHE was the one who was supposed to represent love. How could it be that he captured Taichi's heart while she was to be regulated to the position of "bud"?
     Peeking again over the balcony, she noted the unkempt forest of brown that always denoted Taichi's appearance. Her eyes lit up, and she charged downstairs as though she was a child again.
     "TA-CHAAAN!!!!" She exclaimed, rushing into his arms. She was met with a stiff body and wide eyes.
     "……………"
     Sora then felt another pair of eyes upon her. She'd forgotten about Yamato. Slowly, she backed away from Taichi. Taichi's eyes narrowed down to slits.
     "We're not like that, Sora. Just… Don't."
     Sora cleared her throat pointedly, mumbling out an apology. Her cheeks flushed heavily at her lack of restraint on the matter. Yamato's stare was far less than amused.
     "What do ya want today?" His tone was accusatory above all else. "What's the amazing plan to break up our marriage this time?" He flashed the gold band around his ring finger possessively.
     "That hurts…" Sora noted somberly. "I'm past all that scheming now…."
     "Somehow, I just don't buy that." Yamato's icy blue eyes flashed with utter abhorrence.
     Sora turned away, mumbling about how "this was all a mistake…" Before she could take a step, she paused.
     "It doesn't change the fact that I love you, Taichi!" She shouted as tears stifled her voice. "And sometimes I just wish Yamato would drop dead so I could have you all to myself!" She began to run into the street's intersection, pride wounded too far to be within breathing space of the couple. Blinded by her tears, she failed to notice a small Toyota heading in her direction; from the looks of it, the driver had failed to notice her as well.
     "SORA!!!" Taichi and Yamato's voices shouted in unison as Yamato's protective instincts leapt into effect. It was an inborn habit he hadn't felt since Takeru's boyhood, but it still remained. He needed to save her, no matter what she'd done to him in the past. His body leapt towards Sora's protectively before the world went white.
     ```````````````````````````````
     The next few hours went like a blur for Taichi. There were sirens, and yelling. Everything was hazy, like he was viewing it from underwater; it wasn't until the shock had worn off that he realized he'd been sobbing. At some point his surroundings changed from a busy street to a plain, sterile white. The only constant seemed to be some foreign blonde, who kept repeating "I'm SO sorry!" in a horrible American accent. Something about just wanting to visit his Japanese pen pal or something like that; his accent was too terrible to understand all the way. There were forms to sign, and so many questions to answer…
     "Are there any family members we should be informing?" Of course there weren't. Sora and Yamato couldn't have been hurt badly enough to warrant worrying any family members. Right?
     Right?
     Oh, why wouldn't that stupid American stop apologizing!?
     Taichi stared at the ceiling for what seemed like forever. It was a white ceiling. Sterile and lifeless, like so much else in this place. It was one of the kinds with the little bumps all over it. Taichi wondered why people even bothered to make ceilings like that. The little bumps couldn't possibly serve a purpose. Why not install a smooth one, or even a tiled one?
     And what was it about Americans that wouldn't permit them to shut up every once in a while?! How did he think an apology would make anything better, after he…
     After he…
     No! Couldn't think of that… Had to think of anything but that… The lights! Yes, what lights those were… Halogen, probably…
     ```````````````````````````````
     After a few years passed by Taichi's count, a doctor appeared in the hallway.
     "Ishida?" She squinted at her clipboard. "Oh, I'm sorry… Yagami?"
     Taichi sprang to his feet. "Yes, that's me! What's happened? How are they??" He was met with a grim expression that made his heart sink. With a force not entirely his own, he pushed past the bewildered surgeon and darted down the hallway.
     "H—HEY!!! Get back here! That area's off limits!"
     "I need to see them!!!"
     Taichi scrambled into the Operating Room, guided by pure instinct. Yamato was in there. He'd be fine.
     He HAD to be fine.
     Everything was going to be okay. He just needed to see Yamato, needed to hear his voice again. When he finally spotted Yamato, his heart skipped a beat.
     The bed was wide, huge. Yamato seemed to be a sliver of nothingness, as though he could be swallowed by the bed's massiveness. The boy seemed paler and frailer than normal, with wounds littering his forehead and honey-blonde tresses flopping in his face. There was a steady, monotonous hum in the background, one which Taichi chose to ignore for the time being.
     "Yamato…" Taichi's voice was a mere whisper; it seemed as though even speaking too loud would break the fragile lad in two. He reached for his beloved's hand, and was met with a pale, limp, iciness.
     "Oh, Yamato…." Taichi's lips bushed against Yamato's hand roughly. "I'm so sorry…" The pair remained like that for a long while, Taichi clinging to Yamato's cold palm. To let go would be to make an eternal farewell, one that he simply wasn't ready to make.
     "I'm the stupid one…" He whispered. "I was supposed to die first…" Remorsefully, he slid the golden band off of his beloved, his lifemate, his reason for living.
     "I'll never forget you, love." He slid the ring into his pocket, sliding the chalky white sheet over Yamato's head. "Not as long as I live."
     ```````````````````````````````
     Taichi made his way back into the waiting area numbly. Gone. Yamato was gone. Gone forever.
     "Ta-chan…." Taichi's eyes snapped up at the sound. A wincing Sora was limping towards him.
     Crutches. A cast over her right leg. Was that all? The kindest, most wonderful man on the face of the earth was DEAD, and all she had was a broken leg?! Where was the justice in this world?!
     "Don't bother." He stated in a blunt, cold tone, one that was much colder than he'd intended it to sound. "In fact, stay the hell away from me."
     "I don't understand…"
     "I think you do." Taichi turned his back to her and began to exit the building. "He died protecting you, you know. I do hope you're pleased with yourself." As he stepped out the door, he added in a tone loud enough for her to hear, "And, don't you DARE ever call me again."
     ```````````````````````````````
     Taichi sat.
     He sat in an apartment which had suddenly become much too big. He was eating food which was much too bland. He was in front of a televised soccer game that he paid no attention to.
     He stared at the small golden hoop in his hand, comparing it to the one around his finger.
     The telephone rang.
     Taichi lifted the remote control and raised the television's volume until the ringing was drowned out.
     The J-team won the semi-finals.
     A salty droplet splashed onto a sparkling piece of gold.
     ****``````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````****
     …In case it still needs to be said, what you've just read was a Taito. It's about as far from a Sorato or Taiora as you can get. I don't like Sora too much.. Dunno if it shows or not, but.. ^.~;
     I left the apartment complex as "Heightonview Terrace" because I simply don't know the Japanese name for it.. ^^; Whoops..
     Also, the subtly unnamed American who killed Yamato was Wallace. ^_^; Never liked that boy. ^.~;;;
     I know nothing about hospitals. I have no idea what I was talking about. Hope I faked it well. ^^
     It was also my first Taito, inspired by the flash of the ringing phone scene at the beginning there. ^^; I'm sure everyone's tired of reading about the ol' Taichi/Yamasama/Sora triangle, but meh, won't kill ya to read anther. ^.~;
     C&C appreciated… and stuffs..


End file.
